Nritarutya's Adhyaya
held on 8th December was a self-funded evening of art, conceptualized to
promote art unconditionally. Held at the Seva Sadhan, Bangalore, it was
a lyrical presentation that turned the spotlight on some young and fresh
talent.

Presenting some
new perspectives was the Post Natyam Collective, a group of dancers from
USA, who explored contemporary Indian dance and performance, using the
idioms of theatre and multimedia. The artistes were in India to perform
for The Other Festival in Chennai. Shyamala Moorthy and Sandra Chatterjee,
with their diverse influences and training that ranged from ballet to Polynesian
dance, performed with fluid grace and gave a new twist to interpreting
Bharatanatyam as we know it here. Their combined performance of ‘Meet the
Goddess’ was a parody of the many roles played by a woman.

The second half
of the performance was by Veena Basavarajaiah, who in her lithe form danced
with a lyrical quality where movements were perfectly controlled and executed.

A combined
performance by Veena and Nakula Sommana, using newspapers and video showed
the impact of technology and news on the lives of common people.

The performance
also witnessed an innovative gesture of inviting a panel of eminent persons
such as film director and theatre person M S Sathyu, Bharatanatyam gurus
Minal Prabhu and Bhanumathi and Bureau chief of Magna Publications Anupama
Bijur, to review and appraise the artistes' presentations. "The evening
was a refreshing experience and was a credible effort at showcasing alternative
vocabularies in dance," remarked Anupama Bijur.